


A Story Behind Every Frame

by zefur1497



Series: In the Mind of a Former Alchemist [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Ed is bored, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, I love these dorks, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Love, Photography, Surprise Ending, Surprises, Winry fixes that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-07-23 16:12:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16162361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zefur1497/pseuds/zefur1497
Summary: A picture can tell a thousand words, or so the old saying goes, but a an album can tell an entire story





	1. The First Day

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea in my head for a while, but didn't have the motivation to do it until now. I know it's not the most original idea, but I at least hope it can pull on those heart strings at least a little. Recently bought the Fullmetal Edition of the manga, and it is such a gorgeous book that it sort of inspired me to put this into paper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A picture can tell a thousand words, or so the old saying goes, but a an album can tell an entire story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this idea in my head for a while, but didn't have the motivation to do it until now. I know it's not the most original idea, but I at least hope it can pull on those heart strings at least a little. Recently bought the Fullmetal Edition of the manga, and it is such a gorgeous book that it sort of inspired me to put this into paper

The first day started out like any other, he was in his study, musing through some old alchemy texts. His wife always wondered how he could find any enjoyment out of reading books over and over again, he always explained that there may have been something he missed when reading through beforehand. She always told him that only worked when he hadn’t read through the massive text at least ten times. As stubborn as he was, he didn’t necessarily disagree with that point.

Sure enough he did get bored of the book, he was never known to be a patient man, and his was definitely wearing thin at the present moment. He was home alone, not a person to share his boredom with, let alone actually provide him with some entertainment. Sure, he was a husband, but his wife was out for the day, said something about needing some produce for supper tonight, he didn’t know what they were having tonight, but he did know that if she cooked it he couldn’t help but dig in. But not only was he a husband, he was also a father; his two little angels, his pride and joy…were also out with their mother. His home on the hill was truly lonely today.

Sure, it was boring, there was nothing to do in this little sheep farming village, especially where he and his brother decided to build his house. The outskirts were barren of human life for the most part, very few lived out this way, and those that did were either farmers or his family. But the peace was nice, and his children got the joy of an open field as their backyard, to be honest it couldn’t get much better than the eastern countryside.

He stared out the window and pondered what could be done today in order to curb his stagnancy, there wasn’t a lot in all honesty. He skimmed through chores in the back of his mind ‘fix the porch; done, clean the house; done, for the most part that is, his office was a little bit of a mess, but his wife didn’t mind because that was his personal space, what else was there?’ He couldn’t really remember if there was anything else, if there was he probably already finished them.

He was broken from his trance by the muffled creak of his front door, followed by a jumble of footsteps as they cluttered around downstairs. Turns out he wouldn’t have to deal with boredom for much longer, and his much less than full stomach would be getting a delicious homecooked meal. He heard the loud giggling of his two-year-old son, and some swift, but heavy footsteps around the living room.

“Ed!” that was her, the love of his life, and mother to his children “Come down, we got a surprise for you!” it took him mere milliseconds to leap from his chair and leave the room. He was expecting a fresh meal, but not so soon, what kind of surprise could she possibly offer him today. He made his way down the stairs, one footstep much heavier then the other and ran into a familiar face, rather two familiar faces

“Al?” he rubbed his eyes with his fists, to make sure he didn’t fall asleep while reading his book, and this whole thing was a dream “Al!” he leapt forward and embraced his brother in a tight hug, the bulkier-and taller-of the siblings returned the sentiment

“It’s good to see you too brother” they separated, but the older brother placed his hand on the younger’s shoulder, eyeing him up and down, examining his appearance carefully

“Someone’s been working out” his brother had filled out tremendously, his shoulders were broad, much broader than his own, and he appeared to be…taller “It’s exactly like the olden days…” he murmured to himself, saddened by the fact that he was no longer taller than his younger brother. He shrunk away in shame

“Well two years away from home tends to do that” the younger man took his and his company’s bags and placed them in the living room, revealing the guest he brought to their home.

“Greetings Edward, I thank you and your wife for allowing me to stay in your wonderful home” she bowed graciously, leaving her head down awaiting a response from her host, who was taken aback slightly, confused by the formality

“It’s alright Mei, any friend of Al’s is a friend of ours” she raised her head and thanked him, again with the formality “Mei, you really don’t need to be so formal, I know you’re a princess, but you’re freaking me out” She looked towards Al for help

“Is it really okay, in my country one must respect the homeowner with the highest authority” the larger man nodded and her obvious nerves melted away in an instant “I’m sorry for disturbing you Edward, it will not happe-” he cut her off again with a glare, she slowly sidestepped into the living room with Al.

He himself shuffled into the kitchen, nearly as light as a feather and spotted the light of his life putting away the groceries she had gathered for the day’s meal. He made his way towards her but was stopped by another presence, that of his son, bumping into his right leg, clearly burning off the energy he had gathered throughout the day

“Hey bud!” he gripped him by the armpits and pulled him up to his chest “and how was your day” the boy’s bright blue eyes scanned the room, occasionally stopping on his father face

“Me and Mommy and Lillie went to the market, and when we came home we saw Uncle Al get off the train” he was so enthused about his very busy day, his father was always amazed by his children “Then we came home, and now we’re here, and I’m super tired” he was panting heavily as his mind kept trying to form sentences

“That sounds like a great day, bud, why don’t you go help Uncle Al and Mei in the living room while I help your mom” he placed him down on the floor and he dashed into the living room to join his Uncle.

“Thomas was very excited to see Al today” his attention was turned to the counter where his wife was preparing some vegetables for dinner, she had a sling wrapped around her back, holding the newest member of their family. He strode towards her and peered over her shoulder

“And how was she when she seen Uncle Al” he eyed the baby, her pale blonde hair was tied up into twin pigtails, eyelids shut hiding beautiful blue eyes, similar to her mother’s. Though his son looked a lot like him-save for the eye colour-his daughter seemed to be the spitting image of her mother

“Well, she’s been asleep all day so she hasn’t seen him yet” she was turned to face him as he gently set himself down on the dining room chair “and don’t get your hopes up either, Al may have been excited to see her, but she doesn’t know who he is” it was true, Al wasn’t present for the birth of his daughter so it was unlikely she’d even understand who he was

“I’m sure she’ll figure it out soon enough” he stood up and placed a kiss on her forehead, pulling her into a quick hug, being careful not to squeeze their daughter “and thanks for the surprise, definitely a boost to today” she giggled at his statement, confusing him slightly

“Well, I’m glad that this surprise leaves you in a good mood” she turned back to the counter and pulled out the vegetable peeler “But this isn’t the surprise, I was just as shocked as you were to find them at the train station”

“Then what’s the surprise?” she turned back to him, perturbed by his constant interruptions of her dinner preparations

“Well you know how we used to have your family picture at Granny’s house?” she seemed to be a little more timid

“You mean the one where Hohenheim’s crying?” she nodded

“Well, if you remember, we buried that photo with him at his funeral” that much he understood, he wasn’t present for his father’s funeral on account of being in Central City recovering, but he did know what she was talking about “It just made me think that there are no photos of the Elric family anywhere”

“So…?” his confusion was growing, she was still being very vague, why couldn’t she just spit it out

“Well, I booked a photographer to come over after dinner tonight so that we could have one of our family” he was surprised, at least a little bit, he knew she was pretty sentimental, from keeping a piece of his prosthetic to make into their wedding rings, to all the photos she kept of their friends and their adventures “So when dinners over we need to clean up quickly because he should be here any moment” She carefully handed him their daughter “You’re dismissed soldier” she joked

“Understood mad ‘am” he gave her a mock salute and marched out of the kitchen like a toy soldier, making his way to the living room to join his other family. She nodded and laughed at the antics of her husband

“I can’t believe I’m married to that idiot” she began chopping vegetables for dinner, as Mei quietly sidled up beside her and began to help

* * *

 

The meal was good, grand even, he could never say no to his wife’s cooking, it was absolutely divine. He was glad that he gave her Gracia’s quiche recipe all those years ago, back then it was almost as good as his late mother’s, but when his wife cooked it, you could tell it was made with love.

It was early in the evening, they were all in the living room sharing tea and catching up. The guests were entertaining with tails of their travels, and how impressive the Amestrian-Xingese Railway truly was. The parents were fawning over their children, watching them play with their toys on the rug. He heard a knock at the door and hopped from the couch to answer; opening it he found an older man dressed in a brown vest and black slacks, over his shoulder there was a large leather bag

“Good evening sir” he tipped his cap in greeting, lowering the bag to the ground with a thud “You wouldn’t happen to know where the Elric household is would you?”

“This would be it” he gave the man his warmest smile and assured him that this was the correct place

“Oh, my apologies I wasn’t expecting someone so young to be the owner of such a beautiful home” he stuck his hand out as a formality, Ed took a frim grasp of the man’s hand and shook it graciously “Allow me to introduce myself Mr. Elric, my name is Westby Brown, I was approached by a young woman earlier today claiming that she wished to have a family photo” That sounded about right to him “Do you mind if I come in?” Ed stepped aside

“No, not at all, Winry! The photographer is here!” he called out to the living room. He heard a peep from that direction, and her footsteps coming towards them

“Greetings Mr. Brown, I’m so sorry for making you wait, we’ve had a surprise family visit” she took a hold of his hand with both of hers and shook it furiously

“It’s no trouble at all Mrs. Elric, and please no need for the formality, you can call me Westby” his smile was wise, it was a nice sight to see, especially with all the changes that the country was going through “I was just discussing with your husband how lovely your home is”

“Well thank you very much, he and his brother built it shortly before we were married” Ed’s face was smug, he knew that she couldn’t stand that face. “Please come in, we were planning on doing it in the living room, but while your setting up I can introduce you to the rest of the family” She guided him into the room where he was met with four sets of curious eyes, Ed followed behind shortly after

She crouched down behind her children, whose stunned faces showed the rest of them all they needed to know about how the children viewed the stranger; only amplified by the fact that Lillie’s pacifier fell out of her mouth. “You already know these two, but in case you forgot; this little guy is Thomas, and the baby girl is Lillie” the man waved gently to the children, Thomas waved back, but Lillie still stared in awe

“You have two very beautiful children Mrs. Elric, you must be proud” she blushed slightly at that, her mother’s pride showing through. She went back to his side and directed him to the pair on the couch, both of whom quickly stood up to introduce themselves “This is Ed’s brother Alphonse”

“Pleased to meet you sir” he held out his hand, to which the elderly man reciprocated his greeting

“And this is our close family friend” Winry began but was cut-off by Ed

“And Alphonse’s close personal friend!” Al looked at him, face red with embarrassment, Ed knew that he would get his revenge later, but for the moment he would enjoy this, especially since Mei was basically a puddle on the floor

“Right, excuse my immature husband” she glared at him from over her shoulder, he would be getting it tonight “But as I was saying, close family friend, Mei” Mei fell out of her trance and bowed to the older gentlemen

“Greetings Mr. Brown, it’s a sincere pleasure to meet you” he wasn’t sure what to do as his hand was sticking out in the air, so he instead followed her lead and bowed his head towards her

“Thank you for your patronage, but Westby is fine ma’am, no need for such formalities around an old country folk like me” he placed his bag on the floor and started to unzip the pouches “Now Mrs. Elric, you said you would like it to be done in the living room here, any way you’d like to be arranged?”

“Yes, that’s correct, the plan was to have me and Ed next to each other, Ed holding Thomas, and Me holding Lillie, but as you can see things have changed slightly” she motioned towards the two surprise additions to the situation

“Well I notice that Mr. Alphonse Elric is quite tall so we can put him in the back without any trouble” and placed his hand to his chin, clearly a tick to represent thought “Perhaps Ms. Mei could stand behind Mr. Edward but have herself positioned slightly to his right side”

“Well you’re the photographer” Ed cruised his way into the conversation “Alright people, lets get this over with” he grabbed his son and placed him under his armpit, holding him like a football. Mr. Brown stared at Winry with confusion, she just waved at him, as if to say ‘it happens all the time, don’t be too ruffled’

Winry picked up Lillie and her pacifier, placing the latter into the mouth of the former, and positioned herself next to Ed “Ed actually hold him like a child, he’s not the ball to yours and Al’s favourite game” he obliged and grasped Thomas by the ribcage, holding his back against his chest. Al positioned himself behind the pair, placing a hand on each of their shoulders, and Mei positioned herself on the side next Al

“So why’re are we doing this again?” Ed looked to Winry, as Mr. Brown finished setting up the camera

“Because, I want to start a tradition” he cocked his eyebrow up “Don’t look at me like that, we may have had hard childhoods” Ed puffed some air out of his mouth, as if it were the understatement of the century “Yeah, Yeah, whatever, that isn’t the point. I want our children to have something to look back on whenever they feel like they’re in trouble, something to let them know that when times are tough that they still have a loving family to look forward to”

He didn’t fully understand how one woman could be so perfect; so beautiful, so smart, so in touch with her emotions, and he would never understand how she was his wife, the mother to his children, the yin to his yang, and the leg in which he stood on, both figuratively and literally

“Besides” she took him out of thought, she was staring deep into his golden eyes “This isn’t even the big surprise”

How was this not the big surprise it seemed to be the perfect end to a nearly perfect day “Then what is?”

“I went to the doctor today and it turns out that we’re going to be adding a third member to our family” just at that moment, Mr. Brown had finished setting up

“Alright everyone turn this way and smile!” it took Ed a second to realize what he was just told, but the moment he did was perfectly timed. His smile was wide, one of true happiness the exact moment that the camera’s flash went off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed, comments are welcome (encouraged even), I'm always open to criticism, so let me know what you think. There's probably going to be another chapter sometime soon, don't really know when but it will happen at some time, it wasn't initially planned as a multi-chapter but I feel like I have some ideas that could work for this type of story


	2. 3 Months Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's had a long day, a long week,a long month, and a long trip, but today he's found a reason to smile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sudden inspiration appears  
> *What will you do?*  
> Write School  
> Life Do Nothing
> 
> Yeah, it's been a long time coming, but I did it (though it was in one night so I can't really complain) I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make this multi-chapter at first but I feel like this chapter is better than the first, it's a little sad, no real comedy involved (the first didn't really have it either, unless you have my sense of humour) but I like it more

The second time he was away, and he couldn’t help but be upset about it. It had been a little under three months since he’d been home, he had been assisting his brother with completion of the alchemical theory they both sought to prove. At first, he had been excited, ecstatic even, this was something they had been working on for years, but as each day passed those feelings had deteriorated.  He missed the progress of knowledge that occurred when he first got to Xing, he missed being able to do more than just read over notes and try to formulate something from them, he missed being able to put this newfound knowledge to use, but most of all, he missed his family. Sure, he was there with his brother, who at one point was the most important entity of his life, but time changes things, and while he loved his brother, it wasn’t in the way he needed right now.

As much as he missed home, he was still enjoying the rich, exotic culture that Xing had to offer. In all his life he had never been this far east before, and while he wasn’t much a fan of the weather, he did enjoy the people, and the locales that he ventured through. It was a place of incredible diversity; animals he had never even heard of before, let alone seen were a commonplace, and the food, oh the food, it practically gave him chills just to smell it.

Unfortunately there were many drawbacks to this little trip to Xing, aside from being so far away from his wife and children. The first being a certain Xingese royal family; despite being research that only he and his brother had any business working with, they were usually accompanied by a young Xingese princess. Worst of all their work was constantly being interrupted by the current emperor, Ling Yao, a man that Ed had never given any real definition of his relationship to. Was he a friend? A fool? Or just a cheapskate? He would probably never know, he supposed that was the beauty of it.

The second of his plights was the weather; there were only three forms of it in this country, heavy rain, damp and hot, and dry and hot, and none of these three were something he could stand. First, was the rain, and in those days, he never left the palace-which was oh so graciously offered to them by the emperor-due to the incredible phantom pain he still experienced in rainstorms. Second, were the days where it felt like he was breathing in steam, those were the most tolerable, but still not preferable to the weather back home, where he didn’t have to deal with his automail constantly seizing up (his wife was going to kill him when he got back). Third, was when it felt like water was literally evaporating out of his body-though this only happened in a few places, namely the east desert (or west in Xing terms), and some other small deserts in Xing-and when his automail decided to burn his skin due to the heat.

The final reason why he was hating his current trip was due to how little progress they had made. When Al sent the letter, he made it sound like he was so incredibly close, and maybe he was, but Ed couldn’t see it. He chalked it up to how he couldn’t use any form of alchemy anymore, so he couldn’t really visualize the progress. He was constantly discouraged by this fact, but when he saw his brother transmuting, and the smile he had on his face to signify something went right, he couldn’t help but restart his scientific mind. It was a strange feeling, making a ground-breaking scientific discovery, only to not be able to test it yourself.

For him it had been a long day, not that he had a hard time with his research, quite the opposite actually, he hadn’t done any at all today. Al was busy, and without someone to do any testing, he was out of luck, but it didn’t stop him from having a busy day. No no no, he had the pleasure of a tour with the emperor, and while he still hadn’t decided whether he hated Ling or not, he wasn’t really in a position to refuse.

While he did get a tour of the rich and illustrious Imperial City, he had never seen anything else, they were always in the capital or some random jungle. Today was different though, Ling brought him to all kinds of places, starting with the Yao Clan village, and moving through each village one by one. It was both amazing and depressing to see the disparity between the rich and the poor. Although Ling had abolished the mistakes of the previous emperor, it had still only been 8 years since he took up the throne, Ed knew it was still going to be along time before equality was reached.

The tour did have to be cut short though, not due to trouble, but because there were only 24-hours in a day, and there were 50 clans throughout the entire empire of Xing. They only made it through 12, and even that took half the day; each village was so diverse, they each had their own economic system (well, those that had some form of economy), and some even had their own culture. It wasn’t as diverse as when he went travelling to the west of Amestris, but it was still pretty impressive how one country could contain so much culture.

It was late now, he guessed around 11 pm, but he didn’t have a clock anywhere in his room, so he couldn’t really tell. He closed the book he had been reading since he got home at 10 and placed it on the ornate ed table with a thud. He reached to the back of his head and untied the ribbon that held his ponytail in place, gently placing it on top of his heavy alchemy textbook. He reached over to the pull cord on the elephant-shaped lamp (another one of his gripes about Xing, odd looking furniture), but he heard a rap at the door, and stood from the bed.

He cracked the door to get a look at who was knocking at his door at this time of night, and was surprised to see a pair of olive gold eyes looking right back at him “Al?” he opened the door to reveal his brother, dressed in a grey, long-sleeved high collared shirt (the closest thing they could get to Amestrian clothes in Xing), as well as slim pair of black pants “Why are you here so late? And why are you wearing something so formal?”

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, shades of pink rose on his cheeks “Uh…no reason…I was just out in the city” his other hand remained behind his back, it looked like he was hiding something

“What’s that you got there?” Ed pestered, pointing a finger to the arm his incredibly flustered brother had hidden behind him

Al jumped, startled slightly at the question, his hands came to his front as he fumbled with the envelope in his hand “Whoops, I forgot, it’s a letter from Winry” he extended the envelope towards his brother

Ed took it without a second thought, and started to walk towards his bed, until he realized Al wasn’t following him “Well…are you gonna come in and find out what she sent us?”

“Actually…I already got mine” he smiled wide, and stared at his brother with the kind eyes that he had inherited from their mother “That one is specifically for you…you know…considering she’s your wife and all”

Ed stared dumbfounded at the envelope, and then back to his brother, why did she send a separate letter for him this time? All the other times it had only been one letter, why was this one different? “Oh…well, goodnight then” He made his way back to the door gripping the handle as Al backed out of the doorway

“Goodnight Ed, I hope whatever Winry sent you was worth the extra postal cost” and he made his way down the hall into his room. Ed shut the door and returned to his bed, guess he wouldn’t be turning off that lamp anytime soon. He slowly tore open the side of the envelope, being careful not to catch any edges of the letter itself, and slid the contents out of its paper sleeve, placing it on the end table. He unfolded it and began to take in everything that that little sheet contained, from her handwriting, to the large marks of crayon all over the page, it was definitely a breath of fresh air for him.

_Dear Edward,_

_You’re probably wondering why I sent you this letter, but to be completely honest with you, I’m fairly certain that none of what I’m telling you would apply to Al. I just want to say how much I miss you, how much we all miss you, have been missing you since you left. Thomas hasn’t stopped since you left, one day he’s upset that you’re gone, the next he’s trying to figure out some way to impress you for when you get back, he looks up to you so much, but I’m sure you already know. Lillie on the other hand is still a little confused by it all, why her daddy had to go away, but I always tell her you’ll be back before she knows it, I feel like she’s starting to lose belief in that. I have a feeling that Josie has forgotten, but I always show her a picture of you, and she even says Dada whenever she sees it, it’s really cute and I wish you were here to see it._

_I also wanted to make sure you’re taking good care of your automail, I don’t really know the full extent of the weather in Xing, but if it’s anything like what you’ve told me (though you do tend to exaggerate many details!) then you better be constantly oiling it and drying it as much as possible. Who am I kidding you probably aren’t even reading this, you probably skipped ahead as soon as you saw the word automail. If that leg isn’t in tip top shape when you get home, oh you are gonna get it Edward Elric, and not in a good way either, so you better be doing your routine maintenance!_

_In other news Thomas has started pre-school in town, and just like you did when you were a kid, absolutely hates it. That boy grows up to be more like you every day, and it sickens me that when he’s older he’ll still be a child, exactly like his father. Before you say anything, no, he hasn’t taken any interest in alchemy, he does try and get into your office though, but I’m pretty sure it’s just so he can look at all of ‘daddy’s cool toys’ as he calls them. Lillie is finally getting out of her bratty stage (another trait she earned from you), and she’s been so helpful with Josie recently, it’s really helped me relax a little, I think she just wants to be a good big sister. Josie has actually started to walk, which is great but isn’t at the same time. I’m so proud that she started (it was only about a month after you left) but now I can’t get her to sit still, and Lillie isn’t being very helpful here as her solution appears to be tackling her and pinning her to the floor, I’ve already had to put her in timeout three times this week._

_Onto the more bad news, we’ve officially lost a member to our family. Two weeks ago, Den fell asleep just as Granny was going to bed, and the next morning she never woke up. I know I promised that I couldn’t cry unless they were tears of joy, but that was a hard day, and I wanted to cry more than anything, I know it’s selfish, but that was a day I needed you more than ever. The kids were a little distraught, but they’re still so young, and they don’t really have a concept of death yet, and that’s something I will make sure they don’t have to deal with for quite a while. It’s just…we lost so much when we were young, and I want to make sure or kids don’t have to deal with that._

_Without Den, Granny’s been pretty lonely, no company in that big house, only the rare automail client, but that’s it. For the first few days we stayed there, just to keep her company, until she could get back on her own feet, we’re all she really has left, so we have to be there for her. She even said that she wished you were here, though that was only so she could make fun of your height._

_Final bit of news, as of this writing, today was picture day. Yes, even when you aren’t here, we still had it, we couldn’t break the tradition, and it was Josie’s first one where she was actually conscious. Remember how all three of the kids fell asleep last year while Mr. Brown was still setting up his camera, it was kind of our fault, we did take them swimming down in the stream, that was such a great day, I wish we could’ve done something like that today. I made sure to attach the photo with the letter, so you aren’t truly left out, but be sure to bring it back when you come home, that’s our only one, so don’t damage it._

_I should probably finish this, the post office is closing soon, and the kids are downstairs making some sort of ruckus, never a dull day in the Elric home, not when they have your restless energy. I just wish you were here to see them, Thomas is still you’re spitting image, and Josie eye’s have changed to your fiery colour of gold. I miss you, we all miss you, but I miss you more than anything, I love you, come home soon, and good luck with the rest of your research, Alchemy Freak_

_Forever your love, your wife, your Gearhead,_

_Winry Elric_

**_P.S. I MiSS yOU DADDy cOME HOMe SOON ❤_ **

Today may have been rough, hell, the past few months may have been rough, but it was stuff like this that made it all worth it. This to him was what the equivalent exchange for all the torture he faced when he was younger, and to think it would come only a few years later. He looked into the envelope on the table and saw one last sheet of paper, the photo he presumed.

He removed it and examined every last corner of it with scientific accuracy. He really wished he were there for that day. She was sitting down in one of their kitchen chairs, her baby blue shirt and yellow skirt shone in the sunlight coming through the window, he couldn’t believe how lucky he was to be wed to such a beautiful woman. In her arms she held their one-year old, Josie, her pacifier was still in her mouth (probably to prevent her from crying), and she was dressed in a pink onesie. Their three-year old Lillie was sitting in a chair to the left of her mom, her arms were crossed, and her eyebrows were pointed downward in annoyance, but she was smiling, probably out of fear for what her mother would do, she was wearing the white floral sundress they bought her on her last birthday. On the same chair sat Thomas, their four-year old, his feet dangling off the chair, and the massive closed-eyed Elric smile plastered on his face, he wore his classic black t-shirt and red shorts, an outfit he work often.

Seeing this both made him happy and sad, happy because it was his, they were all his, part of his family, part of his life, his everything, but saddened because he couldn’t be there, especially in moments when they needed him to be. He wasn’t really sure before but now he knew. Tomorrow he’d buy a train ticket, tomorrow he’d be home, and tomorrow he’d see his family. He wasn’t exactly being helpful to Al at the moment, so maybe he’d go pay his most precious ones a visit. Only for a couple days he told himself, but he knew that wasn’t true. He’d go to bed now, and wake up before dawn, go to the trans-desert train station, and buy a one-way ticket out of this hotbed and into the arms of his wife. But first he’d write a note, Al would understand, plus he probably already saw this coming.

* * *

 

The next morning there was a knock at the door “Ed?” Al twisted the knob slowly opening the door as to not disturb his brother “Ed? It’s time to get up, we got a lot of work to-” The room was empty, the bed was neatly made, all signs of life were non-existent, except for a small sheet of paper on the end table “What’s this?” he picked it up and unfolded it

_Alphonse,_

_I’m sorry Al, but I took the morning train. I know we still had stuff to do, but I can’t take it Al, I’m going home for a little while, I’m missing too much. You’ll be fine without me for a little while, right? I can’t even do alchemy so it’s not like any information I have can be put to use (and don’t go blaming yourself, I’d rather have you than alchemy). I’ll be back in a minimum of one week, two at max (okay…two and a half at max), you’ll be fine until then. I’m sorry and I wish you luck with your research, as well as luck with your relationship (don’t think I don’t know where you were last night), be careful, I’ll miss you brother_

_Sincerely,_

_Ed_

Al put the note back down and shook his head, placing his hands to his hips “It’s alright brother” he sighed “If you didn’t do this today I would’ve sent you back anyway” He looked round the room for anything else his brother left behind but found nothing, he then took his leave, shutting the door behind him, leaving the room empty until it’s tenant returned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't really know when I'm going to be making another chapter, no real ideas for it yet, but yeah, probably gonna be another chapter, hope you enjoyed, and please, please comment if you enjoyed reading this, I'm powered by that little notification, and if you have any questions regarding this work or any of my other works (there aren't many yet so...) feel free to ask them

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed, comments are welcome (encouraged even), I'm always open to criticism, so let me know what you think. There's probably going to be another chapter sometime soon, don't really know when but it will happen at some time, it wasn't initially planned as a multi-chapter but I feel like I have some ideas that could work for this type of story


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